Elsa Marie D’Silva
Founder of Red Dot Foundation (India)
President of Red Dot Foundation Global (USA)
ElsaMarie D’Silva (pronouns: she/her) is the Founder of Red Dot Foundation (India) and President of Red Dot Foundation Global (USA). She created the technology platform Safecity, which crowdsources personal experiences of sexual violence and abuse in public and private spaces globally. Since its launch in 2012, Safecity has become the largest crowd map on the issue in India and abroad.
ElsaMarie is also the cofounder of the Brave Movement, a coalition to end global childhood sexual abuse and the cofounder of Beyond Black, a social enterprise that leverages art for good.
ElsaMarie D'Silva has been recognized by various organizations and -governments for her work, including the United Nations Secretary General, United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Government of India's Niti Aayog and MeiTY. She was a W7 advisor under the German G7 Presidency, and a Fellow with several organizations including the Yale World Fellow, Reagan Fascell Democracy Fellow,
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Rotary Peace, Aspen New Voices, Vital Voices and a BMW Foundation Responsible Leader. She co-founded the Gender Alliance, a cross-network initiative bringing together feminists from various German networks. ElsaMarie is also an alumni of several prestigious programs including the Stanford Draper Hills Summer School, the US State Department's Fortune
Mentoring Program, Oxford Chevening Gurukul, and the Duke of Edinburgh's Commonwealth Leadership Program. These programs have provided opportunities for professional development, networking, and leadership training which have helped shape her career and contributions to the field of sexual violence prevention and advocacy.
She has penned articles for CNN, Huffington Post, WIP, among others and spoken at various events such as the Rotary International Assembly, Aspen Ideas Festival, TEDx MidAtlantic, and UN Women. She is a co-editor and author of books such as “The Demographic Dividend and the Power of Youth” (Anthem Press), “Decolonising Development in South Asia” (Aspen Institute) and a series "She Is" which highlights the leadership of women in various fields - sustainability, STEAM and water. Prior to creating Safecity, she worked in the aviation industry for 20 years, where her last portfolio was as Vice President Network Planning & Charters.